I lost track how many times I played this over and over when my wife of 34 yrs passed away in 2016, to this day I still listen to it over and over and cry.
Came home from Desert Storm…Wife and children were gone, this song helped me survive. It’s so beautiful and soulful. And fitting beyond belief, I had to find my way again in the ordinary world. Still enjoy it every time I hear it.
I hope Duran Duran is watching this and realise how much love we have for them. I'm glad you are sharing this with people who have no idea how amazing this album is. Thank you Rick.
The melancholy in this song is deep and real. Simon says it was written about the loss of his best friend David Miles. This is the song about how hard it is to move on from loss, but that you have to anyway
Many people unfairly dismiss them as being part of the “boy band” crowd. They are very capable musicians who have written lots of timeless, enjoyable music. Truly worth a listen for the uninitiated!
John Taylor especially is an incredible bass player. Simon is a unique vocalist. It's kinda sad that they got labelled as a boy band since in general that means "performers" rather than song writers and musicians, but they're so good at what they do.
I think the association was all the teenage girls who latched on to them. I used to hate that aspect of them, wished that never would have happened. I worked in a mall and those girls would come in wearing fedora hats and buy all the posters and merchandise. I used to think it didn't matter how they sounded, it was about to them how dreamy they were. The band didn't like that either in the beginning, as they concerts turned out being screaming teen girls.
@@apollozeroI agree. HOWEVER, just bc they had a big teen girl following did not mean those girls should be written off as shallow and unappreciative of Duran’s music. Ask any of us who are still fans of theirs 40 years later.. I personally was one of them. I’m a songwriter (have been since I was 12). And when I was 10, I was a huge Kinks fan. Ray Davies had such a massive impact on my songwriting and when I first heard/saw Duran Duran on MTV, yes I thought they were absolutely stunningly gorgeous BUT, they Rio album was incredibly good! It’s sad that society placed such little credibility on girls liking a band. Obviously Duran Duran have stood the test of time and they are FINALLY getting some of the respect they always deserved. I’m figuring jealousy played a big role in that back then too. Bc not only were tons of teen girls fans of theirs, but the band dated any model they wanted. They were just an incredible combination of fantastic songs and good looks, AND they never came off as egotistical or conceited. They were absolutely perfect!! I just saw them live twice last year, and they can still rock with the best of them!!
@@JC-yz1sf I know what you mean and I have met people later and have some great friends of those women who were fans, but they mostly just thought of this one or that one as their fantasy boyfriends, so being around that was hard to take at the time. One of them gave me all the Andy merchandise because she thought he was "too ugly and didn't belong in the band." Those kind of things stay with you. I agree the look and sound was the appeal, I just couldn't relate to the fantasy boyfriend, pick my favorite guy thing, why couldn't that have been enough?
@@apollozero you know, I think that was part of their appeal. They were “advertised” as the fantasy men. The men of our dreams. I could totally see how that gets irritating for guys. But if a guy could pull off any part of their look at the time, they were probably a hit with girls too. Lol! I lost my first boyfriend at 13 bc I was “too in love with John Taylor” lol!! Turned out that guy wasn’t exactly the greatest thing either. But I digress, in reality they were a great party band for everyone.
Duran Duran recorded a song called "Save a prayer" on one of their first albums that is still my absolute favorite! I used to get so mad when people called them a bubble gum band because 40 years later they're still here and still great. "Ordinary World" is iconic!
This song played a big part in my divorce recovery back when it was new. This song helped me realize it was time to stop wallowing and to create a new life. "I won't cry for yesterday, there's an Ordinary World, somehow I have to find." Found it. This song is a masterpiece.
@@ziraprod6090 You surround yourself with people who love and genuinely care for you and support you. Who tell you the truth, perhaps not always agreeing with you. And then not trying to replace the one you lost right away, but work on you, spend time with you. That's what has helped me.
Same here!!! It was years after the song came out. 2002. But this song played a huge part in me being able to mourn the relationship. "Where is my friend when I need you most? (Gone away)"
for those that don't know, this is part of a trilogy of songs, written by Simon about a friend that committed suicide. They are Ordinary World, Do You Believe In Shame, and Out Of My Mind. All three are amazing works of art about Simon's pain in losing his friend, not understanding why the friend didn't seek help, and trying to cope with the loss. It's pure, beautiful emotion Simon used as a coping mechanism and to honor, and it has had a wonderful side effect of helping so many others cope with the losses in their own lives. Music can see you through some of the toughest times, one of its many powers...
This is the last song of a trilogy written about the death of Simon Le Bon's friend David Miles in 1986. The first was "Do You Believe In Shame," followed by "Out of My Mind" and "Ordinary World." They all deal with the grief and loss he experienced after the death of his friend. Le Bon had been evasive about the inspiration for the lyric, but revealed its true source as part of an interview included with their 2004 Live from London DVD. @@TheForce_Productions
Well, we're never going to truly know, I guess. Maybe he fabricated the story you heard as he didn't want to talk about it that day. Maybe the story about this being tied to his friend's death was a marketing ploy to push the song, maybe there's a third answer that's never been discussed that's the real truth. All that said, I fully believe the trilogy story. Grab the lyrics and read them for all three songs. Simon, who's very poetic and writes mysterious lyrics, many of which he's never told the public what they mean, is pretty straight forward in these works. Just look at the first verse... "came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue. thought I heard you talking softly. i turned on the lights, the tv, and the radio... still I can't escape the ghost of you..." sure fits the 'i'm seriously missing someone' motif. @@TheForce_Productions
At the end of the day we each can believe whatever we like (thank God for freedom), but this is widly known, confirmed by Simon and others, etc (if I remember correctly, John spoke about the trilogy in his book). Read the wiki on it... in the "background" section they quote Simon directly. I'm sure Simon said what you stated as I don't think you're lying or anything... it just doesn't make any sense... so it's far more likely this was about his friend, as were the other two songs of the trilogy, and that Simon just stated the supermarket thing to be devious or dismissive... not wanting to talk about it, etc. I mean, if this isn't convincing, and the first verse didn't catch you, he states in song, "where is my friend when I need you most... gone away". This isn't hard to decifer. you kind of have to grasp at straws and take leaps of faith to turn this into something other than a song about his friend. Occam's razor...@@TheForce_Productions
I understand fully. I admitted that I believe you heard this directly from Simon's own mouth in that interview. What you're not comprehending is why he said that, and why he and John and Warren and others have contradicted that point in other interviews over and over again. We know there's a trilogy, we know what the 3 songs are and we know what they're about. We also know his friend did commit suicide. Highly unlikely the whole thing is a farce, this song is about a supermarket trip, and the other two are about nothing in particular, lol. Read between the lines man... he was being cheeky with some interviewer and he (and you, apparently) took the bait.@@TheForce_Productions
February 11, 1993. I can still remember the day like it was yesterday. I bought this CD on its release date, took it home, put it in my CD player, put my headphones on, and then laid flat out on my bed. Holy sh*t....THIS song...I was immediately blown away. I wish I could go back to that day...
@@frederickglasser5617 no, the wedding album came out in 1993.. It just fools a lot of people cuz the song (as well as the music video) give out 80s vibes
Duran Duran is such a sophisticated band. This song is craftsmanship to the highest level. Vocal harmonies, guitar solo, production. Wow. Thank you Rick for bringing it on.
@EcRock Simon LeBon wrote the lyrics of Ordinary World and it's one of three he wrote after the death of his friend. The other 2 are out of My Mind and Do You Believe in Shame? Warren's contribution was the guitar, but without Simon's lyrics, there wouldn't have been a song at all.
Just guitar you said this song is everything with the guitars all the arrangements is a rock song keep your lyrics and with out the guitars this song is just crap
I'm not a musician. I'm a dancer so I need to listen very well to the melody so I can translate that in the dance. The way this man analyzes the music and explains it has made me become an ever better dancer. I've learn so much about how melodies are created it changed my whole approach to music. Thank you very much Rick. As always very educative and entertaining 🙏🏾
I've always talked up how good the musicianship is in Duran Duran. John Taylor is one of my favorite bass players in any genre. His driving base in Rio and that really funky bass line in girls on film are 2 of my favorite baselines of all time. Of course I'm not putting him above Les Claypool or anything but John is highly underrated and really deserves more praise. I didn't listen to Duran Duran as a kid but when I revisited them years later as an adult, I was blown away by how good the music was.
Yup. John Taylor, Leigh Gorman (Bow Wow Wow) and Mick Carn (Japan, and other groups) are my favorites. Without them, each respective band wouldn’t be the same. They carried the melodies and Gorman and Taylor “drove” a lot of songs.
Most people think that Ordinary World is about the loss of a romantic relatioship. But it's actually written about the death of Simon Le bon's friend ,David Miles, in 1986. I used to play this song with my brother Jim. I would sing and play guitar and he would play the bass, when we played together. He passed away from Covid, in November 2021. It breaks my heart every time i hear it and makes me very emotional. He isn't just my brother, but my best friend in this world. It's also his birthday tomorrow, the 27th of February. This song transcends what usual pop music is. It has a spirituality and emotional content on a much deeper level. "Where is my friend when i need you most" I miss you every single day , my dear brother.
@@mallorywest1535 Thank you Malory, i literally feel lost, without him around. We played music together , I have some of my music on my channel, but i can't do much, because I have an illness caused by my Gp. My brother Jim was the only person who helped me. The last time i had a hug from anyone, was the last time i saw him. Thank you so much for your kind words.
@@vanessawinans4245 Thank you Vanessa, it's so painful to have lost my brother and best friend. I miss him so much. I am ill and he was the only person who helped me and did anything for me. Thank you for your kind words.
Warren Cucorullo is why this song is amazing…he’s one of the most underrated guitarists ever. Just listen to any of the Missing Persons stuff he did. His chord voicings and solo phrasing are killer.
Agreed!! Prior to that album, they had some good songs. But Warren Cucurullo brought them to another level. This song is all him, regardless of what the credits say.
As a 16 year old I sat alongside David Richards in Mountain Studios as he mixed this (and tuned the vocal track). I knew it was a stunning song from the first few bars. Every time I hear it I’m transported back to that amazing time in my life
I remember being a big metal head back in high school and also loving Duran Duran which was taboo back then for a metal player. I didn't care and always had mad respect for those guys as musicians and songwriters. I always said that Duran was the one band I would dread going up against in a battle of the bands. Behind all the fashion and sleek image, those boys are monster players each in their own right.
I think the people that played instruments always had a more open mind about other types of music. It was always the guys that didn't play that were the Metallica or die stans.
Same here. I remember being so heavily into the likes of Master Of Puppets and Operation Mindcrime all the while being intrigued and moved by much of Duran Durans music. When Ordinary World came out I just remember standing in my living room listening for the first time with the hair standing on my arms. I wasn't hanging out with too many people at the time I could have shared that with. But here I am now.
Just listen to the bass on Planet earth from their first album. I think John Tayler had been playing bass for 2-3 years about that time which makes it so insane.
Ditto. Their vocals are incredible too. Good music is good music no matter the genre. I mean if you think about it a lot of metal and prog was inspired by classical music. It's good to be well rounded.
We had the same experience @tossedpenny, I was a huge Maiden/Priest/Sabbath kid. I remember exactly where I was when I heard "Save A Prayer" the first time, sitting in my buddy's Camaro by the beach, what a great memory. Didn't hurt we were high AF I guess, but yeah early Duran Duran made me question my metal loyalties LOL
I'd put Come Undone as their masterpiece! Hauntingly beautiful, majestic and total ear candy! Love the guitar, drums, baseline, vocals.....it's perfection to me!
I tried to remake Save A Prayer as a mixing exercise because I've loved it since it came out. LeBon's range is just stupid! The song is "sofa king" good!
Warren Cuccurullo, who previously played guitar for Frank Zappa and Missing Persons, is widely credited with writing the bulk of Ordinary World including all the Sus chords and chord substitutions. He is definitely a "Jazz Cat" who knows what he's doing. All the other members of Duran Duran are self-taught including bassist John Taylor who has created some of the most memorable Pop bass lines of his generation. (Check out his bass line for the song Rio. It's mind blowing.)
At last, someone is giving Warren the credit he deserves. He DID wrote the damn song and, in doing so, saved the band at a critical moment in their career. That single sent them back at the top of the charts after the failure of Liberty and the lukewarm reception of Big Thing. In 1992, they were on the way out. Them Warren came with that song...
@@TheSomsom3 Liberty was awful. And Big Thing wasn't much better. You're right, Warran saved the band and put them back on top. And then he got kicked to the curb for Duran Duran's "Astronaut" reunion album/tour.
Rick, I'm sky-high thrilled to be able to say that you've now done a video about a song by my favorite band of all time, and rounded out a 5 for 5 of my top 5 (Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, U2, & R.E.M.). With this song, Duran Duran managed to transcend the '80s lockbox that the critics had put them in (and thrown away the key). It might actually be the single most important song they ever wrote, much like One by U2, because without it, they might well have folded the tent after a rough period of uncertainty, and likely wouldn't still be around today, let alone having (rightly) finally made it into the R&R Hall of Fame. A few notes about the song, some of which reflect on points you made in the video, that I think you'll enjoy knowing: 1. While the rest of the band most likely just have good ears, Warren Cuccurullo, who came up with the chords for the song on guitar, absolutely knew the theory behind what he was doing and why. He had previously been Frank Zappa's guitar player (a job he got by following Frank around on tour and driving him nuts until he realized Warren knew how to play every one of his songs) before leaving Zappa's band with Terry Bozzio to form Missing Persons. I love original Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who was/is an underrated rock player and without whom they never would've broken in America, but Warren is a straight up virtuoso. 2. The huge comeback self titled 1993 album (known as "The Wedding Album") was actually recorded in the living room of Warren's London apartment. 3. Those "caveman" drum fills were played by the great Steve Ferrone of the Average White Band & later Tom Petty's band (for 30 years). He frequently played with Duran Duran, both in the studio ('86-'95) and on stage (the entire '87-'88 Strange Behaviour tour). 4. Those deep and moving lyrics are actually about lead singer Simon Le Bon trying to reconcile the death of his childhood best friend David Miles. He wrote a trilogy of songs about Miles: Do You Believe in Shame (1988), Ordinary World (1992) and Out of My Mind (1995). The movement toward more personal, relatable, and less obtuse lyrics along with Cuccurullo pushing the band to be more adventurous musically in the '90s were equally important factors in gaining the band at least a smidge more credit from the closed minded ranks of rock critics. If you've made it this far, thank you so much for listening to me ramble. Again, thank you for another excellent video, and if you'd like to hear more of how Warren Cuccurullo pushed Duran Duran musically, check out Breath After Breath (with Milton Nascimento on guest vocals and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums), Buried in the Sand (about founding bassist John Taylor leaving the band in '96), Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For (a pleading song written to Simon Le Bon's close friend Michael Hutchence not long before his death), Starting to Remember (a beautiful Beatlesque song with lyrics written by keyboardist Nick Rhodes) and Last Day on Earth, an absolute ass-kicker in 5/4 time (preferably listened to with its intro, the instrumental Kiss Goodbye, played directly before it because the two songs make a single musical statement played together).
Rock critics don't know anything. Songs like "The Reflex" and "The Chauffeur" have SO much complexity hidden behind their catchy melodies and hooks. They've always been brilliant songwriters, but not always mainstream. Only band I've seen have TWO comeback periods -- the Wedding Album period, and the Astronaut reunion. And they're still making some great albums in this century!
Thank you for this comment! I really appreciate the effort and time you took to express all this. I'm a lifelong Duran Duran fan and have followed them all the way through. I feel the same way you do about each track you mentioned. I truly feel they have no bad albums, but albums which were not mainstream compatible. So many times I've asked people to take the time to do a deep dive into the Duran Duran discography and understand their genius. They have always been so smart to work with other great musicians and producers, as well. I would love to get a group of people/musicians together and do a Duran Duran listening party. What a band! They have never been given the credit they deserve. Unbelievable talent and staying power. Loyal fan since I was 7 years old.. when "Rio" came out. It was my first vinyl album.. best Christmas present ever. Their first album, "Duran Duran", is a gem, too.. that New Romantic vibe.. so good!
Warren deserved better, he carried the band trough the dark times, bringing back Andy was a huge mistake. He didn’t evolve and left the band again dry. The Timbaland produced album (red carpet) was awful, but hearing it live showed a glimpse of what it could have been. Roger coming back can be seen on the most beautiful cover of Perfect Day (thank you album) and they sounded amazing, they should have kept going like that.
Not really. What other Duran song sounds like this? This was a Warren tune, and I don’t think anyone considers the Warren records as representative of “the sound of Duran Duran”.
@@WhyTheHorseface you do have a point. But they do have some nice musical complexity in their earlier albums, just not as guitar centric. Warren absolutely did some of his best work showcasing his musical genius creativity & with this track. That’s why he was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame with them.
Walked through Vancouver's Chinatown with a friend to get coffee one warm evening, probably 15 years ago, and suddenly we realized we could hear Duran Duran playing in the stadium. We sat on the curb and listened to them for an hour, and I suddenly realized they weren't the simplistic pop band I had remembered them being. This is the song they were playing when my friend and I turned to each other incredulously and said IS THAT DURAN DURAN?? at the same moment.
@@robloxvids2233 If you want to hear something straight out of F-Zero, listen to the guitar and keyboard solo in Children of Bodom's 'Needled 24/7' (just before the 3 minute mark); it's uncanny.
Agreed! Born in ‘69 and even sent a money order from Canada to join their fan club. First concert was at Maple Leaf Gardens where they filmed footage for “The Reflex.”
I am from a place where I couldn't find records or cassettes. If I could even find one, they were expensive. Fast forward to today ,the internet is everywhere, I can stream and discover so many songs. 'Ordinary world' came to me as a lightning bolt. It's so surreal that I connect spiritually to these songs and as soon as I visit TH-cam, I find Rick breaking them down.Then, I understand why. I miss this kind of magic in today's music and songs.
Warren Cuckarillo, formerly of Missing Persons, was their guitarist at this point. Came out of that group who played with Zappa. They were already good but Warren took them to another level. He should get a lot of credit for raising their game. The Melody, lyrics and harmonies are all pure LeBon, who is in my opinion highly underrated. John Taylor is a bass virtuoso and the wall of synths provided is by Nick Rhodes, who may also be a genius and is also highly underrated. Great song. Excellent analysis.
Great post. Agree 100%. Nick often got ripped for not being classically trained, but that guy is damned smart, and highly creative. Also was the guy in the band early on that saw the value of music videos.
I saw Duran Duran play their first gig post lockdown and Simon Le Bon described how the song had taken on an entirely new meaning during these covid times. That’s the sign of a great song. It can change its meaning for people over time.
Agree! This is IMHO a song about (love) loss and finding the resilience to eventually get up again and finding trust to find your way again and trust and love again - a bit like life itself 🙂
One just never gets tired of listening to this song and to see Rick analyze it and break it down just confirms what good taste we have in fine music and the moment of brilliance Duran Duran had when they put this one together.
Duran Duran is literally a _perfect_ band. It's not something I came to really appreciate until I was older. Great, interesting music that sounds like nothing we've heard before with clear influences from several different genres, they're great musicians, with great vocals, strong public appeal... I could go on and on.
MTV was a blessing and a curse for them as well. The videos were exceptional and captured the era but also put them on all sorts of teenie girl magazine covers. Hardcore fans like myself in junior high and high school were split on fandom. Some hated them because of their good looks and exotic videos, some labeled them as light weights, and some friends dogged them because they weren’t Minutemen, Husker Du, Talking Heads, U2, or the Police. I remember defending them to a staunch Heads fan who just went on and on about Byrne’s genius. I told him they are genius in their own right but it is the way they are marketed.
Saw them last summer to check them off my list of new wave acts to see before they retired/died. This song was a highlight, along with "Save a Prayer" and "The Reflex." And then I went a DD binge for the next few days rediscovering the old stuff and appreciating how well it's held up.
They've been my favorite since 1981. Everyone should give the newest album, Future Past, a listen. I saw them live 9 times this fall and will be at almost every show in June. Can't wait!
I love that every next segment Rick says “this is REALLY what makes this song great”. It is just an amazingly beautiful composition with real feeling, real meaning and a breathtaking arrangement for the melody.
In the 80s I was deceived by their looks and presentation into thinking they were a boy band. I realized later that I was wrong, they truly are good musicians and writers, they came up with some really original material. Their song "the seventh stranger" gives me goosebumps.
When it came out it was used on an episode of Baywatch and started getting a lot of radio requests because of that - people couldn’t believe it was Duran Duran because they’d been written off by then. Word of mouth made this song huge. First time I heard it I was blown away and I was so happy they were ‘back’. So thank you Baywatch and thank you to all my fellow fans who never gave up on them ❤
@@edwardsanchez3708 true. I was being to modest! 20 to 25 is probably very accurate! Rio, the debut, all you need is now, & seven ... as albums ... are perfection
Even more beautiful when you know the song was written about Simon Le Bon's best friend dying. And the song is all about the aftermath of the grief and how he struggled to get over it. And get on with life without him day to day in the "ordinary world" As his friend was the person that would have helped him get over losing someone ordinarily. "where is my friend, when I need him most? Gone away!"
And this is a change in his approach too, because in the early days of Duran Duran Simon's lyrics didn't really mean anything (similar to M. Stipe), rather they were words he though sounded poetic and interesting.
It's part of a trio. Do You Believe in Shame, Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For, and Ordinary World. A trio of songs for the losses...just heart-wrenching...
@@SandySaysRead I just heard “Do You Believe in Shame” in the scene where Mel Gibson was fixing his boat in Tequila Sunrise! I recognized it instantly!
@@harryosullivan9632true, but he gets a lot of credit for his singing. Le Bon rarely did, and that's the point of the OP's comment. We could also add in others like Nik Kershaw, Mr Mister, It Bites, I mean the 80s was just rammed with quality!
It's a brilliant song! This and "Come Undone" from the same album are some of my favorites from this band. It's worth noting that this sort of ties back to your recent video about why we stop listening to our favorite artists after a while. Duran Duran was about 10 years "past their prime" when they made this song, yet it still managed to become a successful hit. Hearing "Ordinary World" and especially "Come Undone", it always impresses me how well Duran Duran was able to adapt to the sound of the 1990s. They didn't sound like the same band that made "Girls On Film" or "Hungry Like The Wolf" a decade earlier. Not too many bands can change their sound to a new era of music _and_ sound great doing it.
G.O.F. and all of their early work still holds up. They wrote complex, cinematic, explosive dance music. There are Gen Z's falling in love with their music today, especially The Chauffeur- my personal favorite.
@italoblu I have, but I skimmed through it. I will definitely give it another go. They were so great on tour last year, it made my heart happy to see them full of energy even at this point in their careers.
@@italoblu Hey, I remember that album came out on my birthday! I heard "Anniversary" but I haven't really checked out any of the other tracks. That song sounded like it would have been a massive hit in 1984!
@@EcRockWarren was a different ‘flavour’ added. I always enjoyed Warren era Duran, it’s just different from Andy era Duran. I love that they evolve so much
When I was growing up Duran Duran were shunned by a lot of boys and men. They were just considered a screaming girl boy band. But as I grew older I started to appreciate just how good a lot of their music was. Skin Trade was an amazing song, so was the Chauffer, the Reflex, and Planet Earth, their first single was and is incredible. Maybe their so underatted now because they cant playdown the Playboy image they had, but definitely worthy of a reassessment.
As a screaming young girl who saw them live way back in 1983, I copped a lot of flack for my musical faves, and yet it was the music that was the attractant. If anything the overabundance of rouge, hair gel and pouty pictures was off-putting as it put fans in a certain classification I didn't identify with. The basslines were amazing - John Taylor is SO funky. The Chauffer is my fave!
Save A Prayer. These guys were thought of as a "boy group" almost in the early days but they were much more than that. Some of us caught flack for listening to them but I go where the music is. Great musicians, great writers, great band.
@@mujahidhamid6585 they were NEVER a boy band!! The term Boy Band hadn’t even been coined until the late 80s when New Kids On The Block came out. Boy Band insinuating they just sing and do synched choreography and don’t play their instruments or write their own songs. Completely wrong in terms of Duran Duran. They were “boys”, as in young men but that’s as far as that description goes.
@@JC-yz1sf True, they were part of the New Wave that emerged and were known as part of the New Romantic scene that had emerged during the early 1980s. But having said that they were a band full of young men .....the best of the 1980s alongwith Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, Wham, Soft Cell, Imagination, Simple Minds, Fun Boy 3, ABC, OMD, Tears For Fears, Ultravox, A Flock Of Seagulls, Visage, Classix Nouveaux.....
This tune is a masterpiece, an ocean of melancholy. Gotta believe that Warren Cucurullo had a big hand in the writing and production as it was a quantum leap up from their prior work, as good as much of that was. I also believe it was recorded in his home studio. This is one is for the ages…
No album Duran made during the Warren years was any kind of leap over the band’s first 4 albums with Andy Taylor (Duran, Rio, 7&TRT, Notorious). I’d also put the band’s most current 3 albums above those in the Warren era (AYNIN, Paper Gods, Future Past)
@@marcadiadd5681 "leap" is indeed a strong word if we are comparing albums. The Wedding Album is good, but Rio - the album - is perfection. Warren is a musical genius, his virtuoso is unmatched by anyone else in the Duran camp, even John, who is damn spectacular. Warren's ability mixed with Simon's iconic voice is the reason they stayed afloat. They knew what they were getting in 1986 when they brought him on board. That is not to take away from anyone else. Andy has pure guitar hero mojo and plays with excellent feel and emotion. John has cross-genre bass feel and method that is undeniable. Nick has the producer's ear that keeps DD's QC to the highest standard and a tastefulness that keeps the synth both in the forefront and complementary to the other perfomers. But Warren was a virtuoso, and that shines hard in his songwriting and in the band's arrangements. He played Andy's parts, he played his own parts, he's weird as hell, and he added a lot to the band.
They’ve written many many amazing songs - Save A Prayer, Rio, The Chauffeur, Seventh Stranger, Come Undone to name just a few - but yes Ordinary World is very special
This is the most beautiful song in my Playlists, the pre-chorus and the chorus make the hair stand up on my neck:) This song embodies why music is the most important thing in my life - it is audible beauty
1993... I always thought of it as Duran Duran's new music.. I had never owned any of their albums and had somewhat written them off as just another New Wave group, then I heard this song and was moved powerfully by the emotional lyricism and chord structure as it was meaningful on a personal level. I had my day in the sun and around that time I was experiencing the sundown of my youth so it really hit home and still does.. Rick, when I saw the heading "How Duran Duran Wrote the Perfect Song", I felt it had to be this one.. Our musical tastes are very much aligned... BTW... whenever your video's start, I always wait for your big grin as I sense your joy and passion for your work.. it's become predictable..
It’s so great to see so many people in the comments that feel exactly the way I do about this song and COME UNDONE. They are legends and have been consistently good for so long. I’ve been listening to thier greatest hits since the wedding album came out. Decades (pun intended) of great music.
This song turns 30 this year and it still gives me goosebumps. It ends up on nearly all of my playlists eventually. Mind you, my kids laugh that ALL of my playlists start off as my attempt to curate new music and ends up being another collection of my favourites, on all of which this song will forever live. Something about Simon’s voice …. It’s always just a hairsbreadth away from completely falling apart and it rides perfectly above their elegant melodies. Their songs sung by anyone else loses that tension that makes them compelling and his voice without those melodies loses it’s emotional power. Just a match made in heaven. They were so much more than just another pop boy band. They pioneered the new age of MTV with their groundbreaking videos. Their look defined an era. Their sound is instantly recognizable. And this song is like the pinnacle of all that they are as musicians. It sat upright and centre stage amongst the cacophony of competing sounds that was the 90’s. And of course, it brought with it a huge wave of nostalgia for those of us who were passionately into the 80’s music scene. Fantastic. ❤
Jumped on the DD bandwagon when they first came onto the scene... LOVE their music. But his song does something to me, and tears well up in my eyes... I'll be 66 years old next month... and this song does it to me every time!! I think it's one the best songs ever written, along with "Come Undone"(also by DD). I love how excited you get when you discuss the breakdown (of any song). I'm slightly older than you are, and I wish I had taken music (especially guitar) more seriously when I was younger. My father passed away 4 years ago, and he left me his Gibson J45 he bought in 1944... he was 17. Anyway.... I LOVE THIS SONG. Thank you for doing the analysis, and hopefully lots of younger people on your channel will listen to some "older" music, and really dig it. I appreciate what you do and your love for it.
Duran Duran has been my favorite band since 1982. I’ve seen the original line up twice. Simon, still sounds as unique and as good as he did on 1982. Jair a great f’ing band.
This song has always hit me emotionally. I believe it’s about trying to cope after a loss in a world where suffering rules the headlines. The lyrics are hauntingly sad, the instrumentation is gorgeous and the vocal is heartbreaking. Definitely DD’s best, IMO.
Well the lyrics are melancholy and uplifting at the same time, and I'll never forget it since it saved me when I got roped into doing a karaoke turn at a party...
Like many great songs, this song has multiple inspirations. One of the things it is about was the band dealing with the fact that they no longer enjoyed the popularity they had in the 80s.
John Taylor is such a musical bass player and has a lot of groove. You can really hear the Bernard Edwards / Chic influence on his playing, especially on Rio and the early material.
As soon as I read your comment, Rio ran thru my head!! Besides the lack of bridges, key changes, middle 8s and anything larger than a 4 chord loop….what’s really missing from a lot of pop music now is a commanding baseline. Such a missed opportunity for a hook….
@@mallorywest1535 I love how 2 pr so years ago at the height of the pandemic John put out videos on how to play some of Duran's songs on bass. It was awesome.
Honestly, I don’t need the breakdown to know this is a perfect song. My ears, brain, and heart told me. Duran wrote all of their music. Duran wrote the soundtrack of my adolescence, and continues to narrate my life…
I could not survive without you or Professor of Rock. Music is the one thing that can bring us all together. I’m considered old now, but I still feel like I’m 17. It’s music, of every genre that has kept my soul & heart young. This coming from a girl who graduated HS in 1981 and from that moment on I was addicted to concerts & buying more albums. I’ve seen everyone from John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Metallica, Garth Brooks, Journey, Wayne Newton, Cher, The Tubes, Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Alabama, Billy Falcon, Fly Leaf, Doobie Brothers, Ronny Montrose, ZZ Top, Tesla, Rick Derenger, Pat Benatar, Richie Sambora, Ted Nugent, Rolling Stones, Duran Duran to the San Francisco Symphony. And soooo many more. I lost a lot of my hearing because I always had to be up front at Day on the Greens & really every concert. We could afford to see so many at $25 a ticket. Now concerts are out of control. I won’t pay their price. Stevie Nicks lowest price in April here in Texas is $685. Sorry. No one is worth that. Not even my girl Stevie. 💕Gospel is probably my favorite genre, Etta James, Bill Withers to Neal Sedaka…perfection. My playlist is bizarre to the average person. I recently got to see Tom Jones. WOW! At 82 he still has the power to sing brilliantly!! We’re all getting older but I think channels like yours & POR are so important. The newer generations look at their phone screens all day & either don’t listen to anything or they only focus on rap. They don’t understand the beauty generated by those who create the music. I’m taking my 20 year old nephew to Muscle Shoals soon. I’ve finally gotten him to look outside of rap 😊 I’m so glad he & his generation have you to show them the way. Ordinary World is just one of those songs that kick you in the gut. It’s gorgeous!! It’s incredible live! Thank you for all that you do. ❤
Why hasn't your comment gotten any love? You're obviously such a lover of music. Greetings from Nova Scotia, Canada. Tom Jones can kick any young punk's a$$, even today. It's a shame he had so many bad songs to sing but he's put out some interesting things in the last 10 years. All those bands. Wow. I saw Adam Ant during his Friend or Foe tour. That was fun. Saw Gary Numan, shook his hand, sat right in front of him during his sound check. Would love to see Devo. Wish I could have seen Peter Gabriel when his 4th album, Security, came out. I've seen the Stray Cats and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Lots of others, too, but not like you. Most of the bands I've traveled for. My part of the continent is considered out of the way for regular touring. So many bands I'll never see. I graduated in 1981 also. Hope your weather isn't as bad as it was last year. For us, we're not getting anywhere near as much snow as we usually do. The world's all turned around. Would love to visit Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Utah and California one day. Such a lovely part of this continent. Cheers.
Warren is the unsung hero of Duran Duran…his complete love of the band and desire to take them past the top to secure the group’s relevance…f yeah!! wow, I love rock and roll. Thank you, bless WC and long live rock and roll
I was a grumpy elder frowning on their cuteness in DD's early years. The Reflex and its 3-part structure first made me think 'Hm, some talent is hiding behind the mascara' and the harmonies got me the rest of the way. (Most Yes fans are likely suckers for a good harmony!) I bought Big Thing and this album, and enjoyed them thoroughly - and went to the Astronaut concert a few years later.
Simon's vocals are sublime and his story behind the song makes it very special. After the craziness of their initial rapid growth, he and them were left empty and this song is how he came to reappreciate everything normal and from there was able to keep on walking through life.
@bernardpullon4632 actually this song sounded like that could have been the inspiration. However it was a very personal story. Simon LeBon lost his best friend to a heroin overdose in the mid 80s and this is one in a trilogy of songs dedicated to his friend. It has taken on many meanings since then, but that was the true inspiration. ✌️
Towards the end of Ordinary World, Simon sings a few really high notes. I was blown away when I first heard it. After spending much of the 80s partying, the band still had it, especially Simon who sounds incredible.
Yes, Simon is always writing the lyrics and he's always looking for great melodies, special notes an harmonies. That 9th that Rick explains for example.
@Joe Garcia he was taught to sing by a church choir master and is always respectful to what he was taught by him. He's a very nice chap basically. His vocals with Arcadia were in the same vein where he had more scope to do less poppy songs.
Great song! As a kid, I loved Ordinary World when it came out. This actually ties into your video from last week about people giving up on artists' newer music. This song came out a few years beyond the band's heyday, but it's amazingly beautiful, and deservedly became a hit.
Duran Duran have so many perfect songs. They were pegged as a pretty boy pop band, but they were (are) amazing musicians and the lyrics were often bizarre and unconventional for a “pop” band. Amazing choice!
@@tompoynton Happened all through modern history, another example from years before was 'The Sweet' - they performed some really cheesy songs initially, they eventually left the team and did their own thing.
@@metamon2704 the sad thing with Sweet is this side of the pond too many people think Ballroom Blitz is from The Rocky Horror Show (hey, all Brits in scary outfits 🤔). No-one here has heard of Blockbuster or Teenage Rampage which were both better songs IMO. The plus side is no-one here has heard of Wigwam Bam! 🤪
@@unclemick-synths My favorite song from Sweet is Love is Like Oxygen, a great mix of pop-prog-rock elements. Unfortunately, only a few fans agree with me 😀
@@hhpoa I had to look that one up. I remember it now. Times had changed and by then I was into The Police, Blondie, etc. Great time for music in the UK - one moment the radio was playing Carpenters and the next The Sex Pistols. John Peel was God. Radio here in Ottawa is genred focus-grouped crap.
This was interesting to watch. I read an interview with Nick Rhodes, way back in the Eighties, in which he described how they wrote “Hungry Like the Wolf” in a few hours. He said he was noodling around with synthesizer melodies, then John Taylor wandered in and started playing a bass line that transformed the sound. When you listen carefully to the finished song, you can hear the bubbly synthesizer sounds interacting with the bass and imagine that moment! Rhodes continued describing how each band member’s instrument came in and changed what they had so far, and each contributed to the finished product, with LeBon contributing lyrics as the final puzzle piece in this instance. It was really fascinating. Even at age 15-ish I knew they were no boy band! 😊
Love the RIO album in particular. John Taylor a fantastic groove bass player. Has a big influence on me, I love the 70s disco and earlier motown stuff which helped me with my progress as a player, though I play mainly rock and heavy metal. Bernard Edwards of CHIC, absolutely fantastic.
*Duran Duran has many perfect songs, well-integrated lyrics and music, they know how to start them, how to finish them and when to finish them, they accentuate with the perfect notes, for me they are like movies in the form of music, they know how to handle emotions very well in their notes and letters.😎👌*
Warren Cuccurullo, the guitarist who used to be in Missing Persons and Zappa's band, wrote the song while he was a member of DD. That's why it has such an advanced melodic structure for a DD song. It was a return to form for the band, the first hit they had since their 80s heyday.
It's such a shame that back in the 80's when they were releasing all of this great music, people just didn't give them a chance. More proof that actually listening to the artist instead of critics and negative people, is what it's all about. Find the truth in music and don't be so quick to dismiss something as timeless and perfect as Ordinary World. Massive praise Rick for bringing this song and DD to the program. They will forever be one of the greatest bands of all time.
So surprised and pleased to see Duran Duran featured here! One of my top 5 all time favorite artists. They were always dismissed as pretty boys and never got the respect they deserved until recently. So many good songs from them over the last 40 years.
I do not know anything technical about music theory nor I pretend to have expert musical ear. But everything you said makes sense to me because I really feel this song and I feel it like magic. The vibe, the sounds, the harminies, I feel this song has layers upon layers of extremely good touches and details to take our ears on a journey.
Gorgeous song... Musically and lyrically. Warren Cuccurullo (guitarist and one of the song writers) is ex-Zappa. I would imagine he knew what he was doing!
Love that your covering Duran Duran. One of my all time favorite bands. They were the first band I ever got into back in the early 80s. Basically, I've been a fan from their beginning.
They are still making cracking music. They employed Graeme Coxson, Blur's guitarist on their last release and his input was fantastic on production, writing and of course manufacturing guitar textures. The song More Joy from their latest release is so contemporary. Nick Rhodes has always been an absolute legend and I am sure his hand is all over this song.
I could talk for hours about FP, such a crowning achievement. More Joy is SO good, Wing, Nothing Less, it’s packed with great, fresh music. Falling, Give It All Up, unbelievable!
Ordinary World is the best song ever. Beautiful lyrics, fantastic structure. Chord progressions are wonderful and the tone and style of the song is absolutely amazing 😍
I have loved Duran Duran since first listen! They are so unique in their sound and have written many of my favorite songs. I saw them in concert 1984. Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour. Fantastic! My best friend was also a huge fan but sadly she died in 2003. This song reminds me of her. Prayers for Andy!
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Soon as I saw the title of this video, I knew it was going to be Ordinary World. Simply one of the finest pop songs ever recorded.
Objectively speaking it probably is but my favorite is Come Undone.
Being Duran Duran it could have been several songs.
Same
Exactly
Prefer Hungry like the Wolf, Ordinary is melancholy
I lost track how many times I played this over and over when my wife of 34 yrs passed away in 2016, to this day I still listen to it over and over and cry.
My heart breaks for you. 💔
@@joannemarsh1 🙏
I am so sorry
God give you strength.
Keep on keeping on.
Sorry mate
Came home from Desert Storm…Wife and children were gone, this song helped me survive. It’s so beautiful and soulful. And fitting beyond belief, I had to find my way again in the ordinary world. Still enjoy it every time I hear it.
Thank you for your service sir.
Mmmm, Dessert Storm. Tasty.
I liked Desert Shield. Praying that the Patriot missiles would take out those SCUDs. Thank God for Ratheon. That was the real battle.
🙏🇵🇭
So sorry that happened to you. It happens way too often and it sucks. Thank you for your service.
Who else straight away knew it would be Ordinary World? Definitely one of Duran Duran's finest songs,if not the best.
Count me in.
Me too
I thought hungry like the wolf
I thought "Save A Prayer"
Yes! By far the best DD song.
I hope Duran Duran is watching this and realise how much love we have for them. I'm glad you are sharing this with people who have no idea how amazing this album is. Thank you Rick.
Yes, absolutely! Duran Duran has been there for me since I was a child, and will continue to always be on rotation in my world.
i never realised. i must have heard this a million times but never listened.
They just posted it on their Facebook page :)
@@amandacatherine793 same
They posted this on their facebook page! (which is how I saw it)
The melancholy in this song is deep and real. Simon says it was written about the loss of his best friend David Miles. This is the song about how hard it is to move on from loss, but that you have to anyway
Many people unfairly dismiss them as being part of the “boy band” crowd. They are very capable musicians who have written lots of timeless, enjoyable music. Truly worth a listen for the uninitiated!
John Taylor especially is an incredible bass player. Simon is a unique vocalist. It's kinda sad that they got labelled as a boy band since in general that means "performers" rather than song writers and musicians, but they're so good at what they do.
I think the association was all the teenage girls who latched on to them. I used to hate that aspect of them, wished that never would have happened. I worked in a mall and those girls would come in wearing fedora hats and buy all the posters and merchandise. I used to think it didn't matter how they sounded, it was about to them how dreamy they were. The band didn't like that either in the beginning, as they concerts turned out being screaming teen girls.
@@apollozeroI agree. HOWEVER, just bc they had a big teen girl following did not mean those girls should be written off as shallow and unappreciative of Duran’s music. Ask any of us who are still fans of theirs 40 years later.. I personally was one of them. I’m a songwriter (have been since I was 12). And when I was 10, I was a huge Kinks fan. Ray Davies had such a massive impact on my songwriting and when I first heard/saw Duran Duran on MTV, yes I thought they were absolutely stunningly gorgeous BUT, they Rio album was incredibly good! It’s sad that society placed such little credibility on girls liking a band. Obviously Duran Duran have stood the test of time and they are FINALLY getting some of the respect they always deserved. I’m figuring jealousy played a big role in that back then too. Bc not only were tons of teen girls fans of theirs, but the band dated any model they wanted. They were just an incredible combination of fantastic songs and good looks, AND they never came off as egotistical or conceited. They were absolutely perfect!! I just saw them live twice last year, and they can still rock with the best of them!!
@@JC-yz1sf I know what you mean and I have met people later and have some great friends of those women who were fans, but they mostly just thought of this one or that one as their fantasy boyfriends, so being around that was hard to take at the time. One of them gave me all the Andy merchandise because she thought he was "too ugly and didn't belong in the band." Those kind of things stay with you. I agree the look and sound was the appeal, I just couldn't relate to the fantasy boyfriend, pick my favorite guy thing, why couldn't that have been enough?
@@apollozero you know, I think that was part of their appeal. They were “advertised” as the fantasy men. The men of our dreams. I could totally see how that gets irritating for guys. But if a guy could pull off any part of their look at the time, they were probably a hit with girls too. Lol! I lost my first boyfriend at 13 bc I was “too in love with John Taylor” lol!! Turned out that guy wasn’t exactly the greatest thing either. But I digress, in reality they were a great party band for everyone.
Duran Duran recorded a song called "Save a prayer" on one of their first albums that is still my absolute favorite! I used to get so mad when people called them a bubble gum band because 40 years later they're still here and still great. "Ordinary World" is iconic!
Right? Save a Prayer is more unique imo.
Save a prayer def their best
It was on their second album. Rio.
Yes I thought it would be save a prayer too. Ordinary world is sweet but not really my fav.
The keyboards on that one are beautiful
Ordinary World is such a timeless song. One of my all-time favorites across all genres and time periods.
I never get tired of this song
This song played a big part in my divorce recovery back when it was new. This song helped me realize it was time to stop wallowing and to create a new life. "I won't cry for yesterday, there's an Ordinary World, somehow I have to find." Found it. This song is a masterpiece.
How? Do you do it?
@@ziraprod6090 You surround yourself with people who love and genuinely care for you and support you. Who tell you the truth, perhaps not always agreeing with you. And then not trying to replace the one you lost right away, but work on you, spend time with you. That's what has helped me.
Same here!!! It was years after the song came out. 2002. But this song played a huge part in me being able to mourn the relationship. "Where is my friend when I need you most?
(Gone away)"
I, too can relate. Ordinary World was one of the songs that helped me during my separation and subsequent divorce in the mid 90s.
Someone saved my life tonight by Elton John is a good one for healing as well.
I have listened to Duran Duran since I was 12. I'm 52 now, and I still love them! ❤ and thank you for doing this video.
for those that don't know, this is part of a trilogy of songs, written by Simon about a friend that committed suicide. They are Ordinary World, Do You Believe In Shame, and Out Of My Mind. All three are amazing works of art about Simon's pain in losing his friend, not understanding why the friend didn't seek help, and trying to cope with the loss. It's pure, beautiful emotion Simon used as a coping mechanism and to honor, and it has had a wonderful side effect of helping so many others cope with the losses in their own lives. Music can see you through some of the toughest times, one of its many powers...
This is the last song of a trilogy written about the death of Simon Le Bon's friend David Miles in 1986. The first was "Do You Believe In Shame," followed by "Out of My Mind" and "Ordinary World." They all deal with the grief and loss he experienced after the death of his friend. Le Bon had been evasive about the inspiration for the lyric, but revealed its true source as part of an interview included with their 2004 Live from London DVD. @@TheForce_Productions
Well, we're never going to truly know, I guess. Maybe he fabricated the story you heard as he didn't want to talk about it that day. Maybe the story about this being tied to his friend's death was a marketing ploy to push the song, maybe there's a third answer that's never been discussed that's the real truth. All that said, I fully believe the trilogy story. Grab the lyrics and read them for all three songs. Simon, who's very poetic and writes mysterious lyrics, many of which he's never told the public what they mean, is pretty straight forward in these works. Just look at the first verse... "came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue. thought I heard you talking softly. i turned on the lights, the tv, and the radio... still I can't escape the ghost of you..." sure fits the 'i'm seriously missing someone' motif. @@TheForce_Productions
At the end of the day we each can believe whatever we like (thank God for freedom), but this is widly known, confirmed by Simon and others, etc (if I remember correctly, John spoke about the trilogy in his book). Read the wiki on it... in the "background" section they quote Simon directly. I'm sure Simon said what you stated as I don't think you're lying or anything... it just doesn't make any sense... so it's far more likely this was about his friend, as were the other two songs of the trilogy, and that Simon just stated the supermarket thing to be devious or dismissive... not wanting to talk about it, etc. I mean, if this isn't convincing, and the first verse didn't catch you, he states in song, "where is my friend when I need you most... gone away". This isn't hard to decifer. you kind of have to grasp at straws and take leaps of faith to turn this into something other than a song about his friend. Occam's razor...@@TheForce_Productions
@@TheForce_Productions Can be, in late 90's I heard something about the shopping thing too
I understand fully. I admitted that I believe you heard this directly from Simon's own mouth in that interview. What you're not comprehending is why he said that, and why he and John and Warren and others have contradicted that point in other interviews over and over again. We know there's a trilogy, we know what the 3 songs are and we know what they're about. We also know his friend did commit suicide. Highly unlikely the whole thing is a farce, this song is about a supermarket trip, and the other two are about nothing in particular, lol. Read between the lines man... he was being cheeky with some interviewer and he (and you, apparently) took the bait.@@TheForce_Productions
February 11, 1993. I can still remember the day like it was yesterday. I bought this CD on its release date, took it home, put it in my CD player, put my headphones on, and then laid flat out on my bed. Holy sh*t....THIS song...I was immediately blown away. I wish I could go back to that day...
@@CyranoJones509 Doesn't seem likely to me, but what do I know. Ok. What ever you say.
Jimmy: could it have been February 1983, just a typo?
@@frederickglasser5617 no, the wedding album came out in 1993.. It just fools a lot of people cuz the song (as well as the music video) give out 80s vibes
Duran Duran is such a sophisticated band. This song is craftsmanship to the highest level. Vocal harmonies, guitar solo, production. Wow.
Thank you Rick for bringing it on.
Cucurullo wrote it he save Duran Duran and yet they cast him out 😢
@EcRock Simon LeBon wrote the lyrics of Ordinary World and it's one of three he wrote after the death of his friend. The other 2 are out of My Mind and Do You Believe in Shame?
Warren's contribution was the guitar, but without Simon's lyrics, there wouldn't have been a song at all.
Just guitar you said this song is everything with the guitars all the arrangements is a rock song keep your lyrics and with out the guitars this song is just crap
This and Come Undone from the Wedding album are incredible songs. Beautiful.
Love both those songs and that album!
But "Come Undone", being great song, has horrible 90-ies rhythm [pattern], which I really do not like.
Save a Prayer has always been my favorite. The music is perfection.
Come Undone was one of the very few singles I ever bought.
Come undone is definitely their best song
I'm not a musician. I'm a dancer so I need to listen very well to the melody so I can translate that in the dance. The way this man analyzes the music and explains it has made me become an ever better dancer. I've learn so much about how melodies are created it changed my whole approach to music. Thank you very much Rick. As always very educative and entertaining 🙏🏾
So you can dance to the rythmn of the melody with the ruthmn and melody
I've always talked up how good the musicianship is in Duran Duran. John Taylor is one of my favorite bass players in any genre. His driving base in Rio and that really funky bass line in girls on film are 2 of my favorite baselines of all time. Of course I'm not putting him above Les Claypool or anything but John is highly underrated and really deserves more praise. I didn't listen to Duran Duran as a kid but when I revisited them years later as an adult, I was blown away by how good the music was.
That is right. John Taylor is a awesome bassplayer composer.
What about Geddy Lee?
Yup. John Taylor, Leigh Gorman (Bow Wow Wow) and Mick Carn (Japan, and other groups) are my favorites. Without them, each respective band wouldn’t be the same. They carried the melodies and Gorman and Taylor “drove” a lot of songs.
The writer of this song is Warren Cuccurullo.
Time has been very kind to Duran Duran
This is the most perfect Pop song from the last 30 years.Period.
And i´m a music lover/collector of all genres since i was 10.
Word.
True.1993-2023 - and still rumbles.
Never been a DD fan. But this hits different.
Same w/ U2- 90% lame band but w/some epic tunes.
Fact!
One of the G.O.A.T.´s, i believe.
Most people think that Ordinary World is about the loss of a romantic relatioship.
But it's actually written about the death of Simon Le bon's friend ,David Miles, in 1986.
I used to play this song with my brother Jim.
I would sing and play guitar and he would play the bass, when we played together.
He passed away from Covid, in November 2021.
It breaks my heart every time i hear it and makes me very emotional.
He isn't just my brother, but my best friend in this world.
It's also his birthday tomorrow, the 27th of February.
This song transcends what usual pop music is.
It has a spirituality and emotional content on a much deeper level.
"Where is my friend when i need you most"
I miss you every single day , my dear brother.
😭If I was there, I'd give you a big hug! I'm sorry you lost your brother....💔
I'm so very sorry for your loss. Sendiing you a hug.
@@mallorywest1535 Thank you Malory, i literally feel lost, without him around. We played music together
, I have some of my music on my channel, but i can't do much, because I have an illness caused by my Gp. My brother Jim was the only person who helped me.
The last time i had a hug from anyone, was the last time i saw him. Thank you so much for your kind words.
@@vanessawinans4245 Thank you Vanessa, it's so painful to have lost my brother and best friend. I miss him so much. I am ill and he was the only person who helped me and did anything for me. Thank you for your kind words.
@@paulopezz I wish all the best upon you! Hang in there! 😘❤️
Warren Cucorullo is why this song is amazing…he’s one of the most underrated guitarists ever. Just listen to any of the Missing Persons stuff he did. His chord voicings and solo phrasing are killer.
Agreed!! Prior to that album, they had some good songs. But Warren Cucurullo brought them to another level. This song is all him, regardless of what the credits say.
Warren was a great addition to the band - they’ve always recognised that too.
"Killer" gives away your age
Ordinary World exists becasue Simon Le Bon wrote it.
I don't think Warren is underrated by anyone who's familiar with him. I've never heard anything but glowing reviews.
As a 16 year old I sat alongside David Richards in Mountain Studios as he mixed this (and tuned the vocal track). I knew it was a stunning song from the first few bars. Every time I hear it I’m transported back to that amazing time in my life
Wow! That must have been amazing.
@@rador9745 I didn’t know how lucky I was. My band was recording there which ultimately came to nothing 😂❤
Whoa!!
That was 92-93
Wow!!
Yes, perfect song. Like it's twin sister on the same album. "Come undone." Just perfect!! Thank you Rick and Duran Duran
I love Come Undone too!
Come Undone, outstanding theme, that riff...
I remember being a big metal head back in high school and also loving Duran Duran which was taboo back then for a metal player. I didn't care and always had mad respect for those guys as musicians and songwriters. I always said that Duran was the one band I would dread going up against in a battle of the bands. Behind all the fashion and sleek image, those boys are monster players each in their own right.
I think the people that played instruments always had a more open mind about other types of music. It was always the guys that didn't play that were the Metallica or die stans.
Same here. I remember being so heavily into the likes of Master Of Puppets and Operation Mindcrime all the while being intrigued and moved by much of Duran Durans music. When Ordinary World came out I just remember standing in my living room listening for the first time with the hair standing on my arms. I wasn't hanging out with too many people at the time I could have shared that with. But here I am now.
Just listen to the bass on Planet earth from their first album. I think John Tayler had been playing bass for 2-3 years about that time which makes it so insane.
Ditto. Their vocals are incredible too. Good music is good music no matter the genre. I mean if you think about it a lot of metal and prog was inspired by classical music. It's good to be well rounded.
We had the same experience @tossedpenny, I was a huge Maiden/Priest/Sabbath kid. I remember exactly where I was when I heard "Save A Prayer" the first time, sitting in my buddy's Camaro by the beach, what a great memory. Didn't hurt we were high AF I guess, but yeah early Duran Duran made me question my metal loyalties LOL
I'd put Come Undone as their masterpiece! Hauntingly beautiful, majestic and total ear candy! Love the guitar, drums, baseline, vocals.....it's perfection to me!
Save A Prayer came to mind initially but Ordinary World is a musical masterpiece as well.
that last verse in Save A Prayer always hits me hard
Skin Trade ijs awesome to. I think they are actually on tour soon too !
I tried to remake Save A Prayer as a mixing exercise because I've loved it since it came out. LeBon's range is just stupid! The song is "sofa king" good!
Just save it for the morning after😆
Love both.
Warren Cuccurullo, who previously played guitar for Frank Zappa and Missing Persons, is widely credited with writing the bulk of Ordinary World including all the Sus chords and chord substitutions. He is definitely a "Jazz Cat" who knows what he's doing. All the other members of Duran Duran are self-taught including bassist John Taylor who has created some of the most memorable Pop bass lines of his generation. (Check out his bass line for the song Rio. It's mind blowing.)
At last, someone is giving Warren the credit he deserves. He DID wrote the damn song and, in doing so, saved the band at a critical moment in their career. That single sent them back at the top of the charts after the failure of Liberty and the lukewarm reception of Big Thing. In 1992, they were on the way out. Them Warren came with that song...
@@TheSomsom3 Liberty was awful. And Big Thing wasn't much better. You're right, Warran saved the band and put them back on top. And then he got kicked to the curb for Duran Duran's "Astronaut" reunion album/tour.
People always forget, or neglect to mention Warren in Missing Persons prior to D2. Makes me itch.
Well to Simon's credit, he did give Warren a shout out during their induction into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame.
I just posted a comment saying much the same - didn't mean to steal your thunder!
Rick, I'm sky-high thrilled to be able to say that you've now done a video about a song by my favorite band of all time, and rounded out a 5 for 5 of my top 5 (Duran Duran, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, U2, & R.E.M.). With this song, Duran Duran managed to transcend the '80s lockbox that the critics had put them in (and thrown away the key). It might actually be the single most important song they ever wrote, much like One by U2, because without it, they might well have folded the tent after a rough period of uncertainty, and likely wouldn't still be around today, let alone having (rightly) finally made it into the R&R Hall of Fame. A few notes about the song, some of which reflect on points you made in the video, that I think you'll enjoy knowing:
1. While the rest of the band most likely just have good ears, Warren Cuccurullo, who came up with the chords for the song on guitar, absolutely knew the theory behind what he was doing and why. He had previously been Frank Zappa's guitar player (a job he got by following Frank around on tour and driving him nuts until he realized Warren knew how to play every one of his songs) before leaving Zappa's band with Terry Bozzio to form Missing Persons. I love original Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, who was/is an underrated rock player and without whom they never would've broken in America, but Warren is a straight up virtuoso.
2. The huge comeback self titled 1993 album (known as "The Wedding Album") was actually recorded in the living room of Warren's London apartment.
3. Those "caveman" drum fills were played by the great Steve Ferrone of the Average White Band & later Tom Petty's band (for 30 years). He frequently played with Duran Duran, both in the studio ('86-'95) and on stage (the entire '87-'88 Strange Behaviour tour).
4. Those deep and moving lyrics are actually about lead singer Simon Le Bon trying to reconcile the death of his childhood best friend David Miles. He wrote a trilogy of songs about Miles: Do You Believe in Shame (1988), Ordinary World (1992) and Out of My Mind (1995). The movement toward more personal, relatable, and less obtuse lyrics along with Cuccurullo pushing the band to be more adventurous musically in the '90s were equally important factors in gaining the band at least a smidge more credit from the closed minded ranks of rock critics.
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for listening to me ramble. Again, thank you for another excellent video, and if you'd like to hear more of how Warren Cuccurullo pushed Duran Duran musically, check out Breath After Breath (with Milton Nascimento on guest vocals and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums), Buried in the Sand (about founding bassist John Taylor leaving the band in '96), Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For (a pleading song written to Simon Le Bon's close friend Michael Hutchence not long before his death), Starting to Remember (a beautiful Beatlesque song with lyrics written by keyboardist Nick Rhodes) and Last Day on Earth, an absolute ass-kicker in 5/4 time (preferably listened to with its intro, the instrumental Kiss Goodbye, played directly before it because the two songs make a single musical statement played together).
Rock critics don't know anything. Songs like "The Reflex" and "The Chauffeur" have SO much complexity hidden behind their catchy melodies and hooks. They've always been brilliant songwriters, but not always mainstream. Only band I've seen have TWO comeback periods -- the Wedding Album period, and the Astronaut reunion. And they're still making some great albums in this century!
Thank you for this comment! I really appreciate the effort and time you took to express all this. I'm a lifelong Duran Duran fan and have followed them all the way through. I feel the same way you do about each track you mentioned. I truly feel they have no bad albums, but albums which were not mainstream compatible. So many times I've asked people to take the time to do a deep dive into the Duran Duran discography and understand their genius. They have always been so smart to work with other great musicians and producers, as well. I would love to get a group of people/musicians together and do a Duran Duran listening party. What a band! They have never been given the credit they deserve. Unbelievable talent and staying power. Loyal fan since I was 7 years old.. when "Rio" came out. It was my first vinyl album.. best Christmas present ever. Their first album, "Duran Duran", is a gem, too.. that New Romantic vibe.. so good!
Wonderfull in depht comment. I really appreciat this explanation and your effort on letting us know!
STARTING TO REMEMBER! Love it so much.
Warren deserved better, he carried the band trough the dark times, bringing back Andy was a huge mistake. He didn’t evolve and left the band again dry.
The Timbaland produced album (red carpet) was awful, but hearing it live showed a glimpse of what it could have been.
Roger coming back can be seen on the most beautiful cover of Perfect Day (thank you album) and they sounded amazing, they should have kept going like that.
I've been telling my wife for years this is the perfect song. The composition, harmony of sound and climax are truly a work of art
For us who grew into young adults with bands like Duran Duran, this is the perfect tribute to their contribution to music. Thank you!
Not really. What other Duran song sounds like this? This was a Warren tune, and I don’t think anyone considers the Warren records as representative of “the sound of Duran Duran”.
@@WhyTheHorseface you do have a point. But they do have some nice musical complexity in their earlier albums, just not as guitar centric. Warren absolutely did some of his best work showcasing his musical genius creativity & with this track. That’s why he was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame with them.
@@WhyTheHorseface alot of other DD songs are much more enjoyable
Yes and nothing comes close to this nowadays 😢
One of the best "comeback" singles of all time.
I think Come Undone was before this, and nearly as successful.
Walked through Vancouver's Chinatown with a friend to get coffee one warm evening, probably 15 years ago, and suddenly we realized we could hear Duran Duran playing in the stadium. We sat on the curb and listened to them for an hour, and I suddenly realized they weren't the simplistic pop band I had remembered them being. This is the song they were playing when my friend and I turned to each other incredulously and said IS THAT DURAN DURAN?? at the same moment.
I'm not a music theory person, but i recognize musical genius. The chords in this song are those that haunt you for life!
B major (I) -> F# minor (Vm) is such a great chord movement. U2's Pride (In the Name of Love) Has a similar chord structure.
I always knew Ordinary World was a magical composition. So deep, both musically and lyrically. My dear Dad loved it.
DD finally getting some love! The greatest!
John Taylor is the man! Probably one of the most under-appreciated bassists of all time!
His isolated basslines are on here. Rio sounds amazing. Reminds me of a track that would have been in F-Zero.
Totally agree! He does not get enough recognition.
@@robloxvids2233The Rio baseline is what I was going to say! It’s insane. 🫠
@@robloxvids2233 If you want to hear something straight out of F-Zero, listen to the guitar and keyboard solo in Children of Bodom's 'Needled 24/7' (just before the 3 minute mark); it's uncanny.
Not when I was kid. Everyone and their mum loved John Taylor. He was probably more popular than Simon Le Bon!
As an original Duranie, (born ‘68!), and a huge fan of their early work, this later track is just brilliant.
Agreed! Born in ‘69 and even sent a money order from Canada to join their fan club. First concert was at Maple Leaf Gardens where they filmed footage for “The Reflex.”
100%, another ‘68er here
Me too. 68. Fan from Planet Earth forward.
I am from a place where I couldn't find records or cassettes. If I could even find one, they were expensive. Fast forward to today ,the internet is everywhere, I can stream and discover so many songs. 'Ordinary world' came to me as a lightning bolt. It's so surreal that I connect spiritually to these songs and as soon as I visit TH-cam, I find Rick breaking them down.Then, I understand why. I miss this kind of magic in today's music and songs.
Warren Cuckarillo, formerly of Missing Persons, was their guitarist at this point. Came out of that group who played with Zappa. They were already good but Warren took them to another level. He should get a lot of credit for raising their game. The Melody, lyrics and harmonies are all pure LeBon, who is in my opinion highly underrated. John Taylor is a bass virtuoso and the wall of synths provided is by Nick Rhodes, who may also be a genius and is also highly underrated. Great song. Excellent analysis.
Great post. Agree 100%. Nick often got ripped for not being classically trained, but that guy is damned smart, and highly creative. Also was the guy in the band early on that saw the value of music videos.
Excuse me but as an italian Duranie I like to hear the correct pronunciation of italian names and surnames, also their written side, it's Cuccurullo.
I totally agree. I listened to a few Missing Persons songs at work today and the songs Words and Walking in LA made my day.
@@alessandraveronesi5572 can hear this reply with an Italian accent 😉👌
Well said
I saw Duran Duran play their first gig post lockdown and Simon Le Bon described how the song had taken on an entirely new meaning during these covid times. That’s the sign of a great song. It can change its meaning for people over time.
Applicability as opposed to allegory
Agree! This is IMHO a song about (love) loss and finding the resilience to eventually get up again and finding trust to find your way again and trust and love again - a bit like life itself 🙂
This and "Come Undone" off of Duran Duran were both amazing. It's all in the mood and the cool... the intelligence and emotion. It's all there...
One just never gets tired of listening to this song and to see Rick analyze it and break it down just confirms what good taste we have in fine music and the moment of brilliance Duran Duran had when they put this one together.
Duran Duran is literally a _perfect_ band. It's not something I came to really appreciate until I was older. Great, interesting music that sounds like nothing we've heard before with clear influences from several different genres, they're great musicians, with great vocals, strong public appeal... I could go on and on.
MTV was a blessing and a curse for them as well. The videos were exceptional and captured the era but also put them on all sorts of teenie girl magazine covers. Hardcore fans like myself in junior high and high school were split on fandom. Some hated them because of their good looks and exotic videos, some labeled them as light weights, and some friends dogged them because they weren’t Minutemen, Husker Du, Talking Heads, U2, or the Police. I remember defending them to a staunch Heads fan who just went on and on about Byrne’s genius. I told him they are genius in their own right but it is the way they are marketed.
Saw them last summer to check them off my list of new wave acts to see before they retired/died. This song was a highlight, along with "Save a Prayer" and "The Reflex." And then I went a DD binge for the next few days rediscovering the old stuff and appreciating how well it's held up.
They've been my favorite since 1981. Everyone should give the newest album, Future Past, a listen. I saw them live 9 times this fall and will be at almost every show in June. Can't wait!
My favorite Duran Duran song is Come Undone. The backing vocals in particular are so sweet.
One of my faves. Check out Bad Omen's cover of it, it's fantastic
yessss that's my favorite as well
After all these years, Come Undone can still kill me emotionally
The song is sublime and a masterpiece. When it was released I couldn't believe the maturity the band had gained in their writing. They are masterful
I love that every next segment Rick says “this is REALLY what makes this song great”. It is just an amazingly beautiful composition with real feeling, real meaning and a breathtaking arrangement for the melody.
One of the greatest songs ever written, so glad to see it covered and broken down here.
In the 80s I was deceived by their looks and presentation into thinking they were a boy band. I realized later that I was wrong, they truly are good musicians and writers, they came up with some really original material. Their song "the seventh stranger" gives me goosebumps.
What can't be understated is Simon LeBon's INCREDIBLE sense of melody as well as being a gifted lyricist.
Agreed.
I agree
When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be Simon LeBon!!
Simon LeBon has said several times "I love a major over a minor". He's a fan of dissonance.
@@kathycassidy5302 Awesome! Good to know!
I'm a metalhead, but I have always been a fan of Duran Duran.. my all-time favorite song is come undone...
I remember hearing this song for the first time and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. It’s one of the finest songs in their catalog.
I had a similar experience when I heard this song for the time. It was a real wow moment.
When it came out it was used on an episode of Baywatch and started getting a lot of radio requests because of that - people couldn’t believe it was Duran Duran because they’d been written off by then. Word of mouth made this song huge. First time I heard it I was blown away and I was so happy they were ‘back’. So thank you Baywatch and thank you to all my fellow fans who never gave up on them ❤
They have 5 to 10 absolutely perfect songs... it's maddening how good they are.
Save a prayer...
More like 20-25 songs if you have all their individual albums
@@edwardsanchez3708 true. I was being to modest! 20 to 25 is probably very accurate!
Rio, the debut, all you need is now, & seven ... as albums ... are perfection
Falling Down. Rio. A View to a Kill. Come Undone.
Skin trade, last chance on the stairway, American science
Even more beautiful when you know the song was written about Simon Le Bon's best friend dying. And the song is all about the aftermath of the grief and how he struggled to get over it. And get on with life without him day to day in the "ordinary world" As his friend was the person that would have helped him get over losing someone ordinarily. "where is my friend, when I need him most? Gone away!"
Came here to say this….
Wow thank you, didn’t know that
And this is a change in his approach too, because in the early days of Duran Duran Simon's lyrics didn't really mean anything (similar to M. Stipe), rather they were words he though sounded poetic and interesting.
It's part of a trio. Do You Believe in Shame, Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For, and Ordinary World. A trio of songs for the losses...just heart-wrenching...
@@SandySaysRead I just heard “Do You Believe in Shame” in the scene where Mel Gibson was fixing his boat in Tequila Sunrise! I recognized it instantly!
This song is a song my friend loves. I broke his heart in 93. This song is what takes him back to that time. Still today.
Simon LeBon Doesn't get enough credit for his amazing vocals and lyrics. What a dude
thinking that too
Hands down one of, if not, the best male vocalist of the 80's. If you can sing, just try singing-a-long and try to keep up with him....good luck🙂
@@yal100 There’s some competition there. Morten Harket?
Lyrics beyond compare
@@harryosullivan9632true, but he gets a lot of credit for his singing. Le Bon rarely did, and that's the point of the OP's comment.
We could also add in others like Nik Kershaw, Mr Mister, It Bites, I mean the 80s was just rammed with quality!
It's a brilliant song! This and "Come Undone" from the same album are some of my favorites from this band.
It's worth noting that this sort of ties back to your recent video about why we stop listening to our favorite artists after a while. Duran Duran was about 10 years "past their prime" when they made this song, yet it still managed to become a successful hit.
Hearing "Ordinary World" and especially "Come Undone", it always impresses me how well Duran Duran was able to adapt to the sound of the 1990s. They didn't sound like the same band that made "Girls On Film" or "Hungry Like The Wolf" a decade earlier. Not too many bands can change their sound to a new era of music _and_ sound great doing it.
Give Future Past a listen, you’ll be blown away.
G.O.F. and all of their early work still holds up. They wrote complex, cinematic, explosive dance music. There are Gen Z's falling in love with their music today, especially The Chauffeur- my personal favorite.
Couldn’t agree more!
@italoblu I have, but I skimmed through it. I will definitely give it another go. They were so great on tour last year, it made my heart happy to see them full of energy even at this point in their careers.
@@italoblu Hey, I remember that album came out on my birthday! I heard "Anniversary" but I haven't really checked out any of the other tracks. That song sounded like it would have been a massive hit in 1984!
12yr old me used to feel absolutely electrified by 'The Reflex', like I'd been switched on, it was AMAZING 😃
The 80s were my favorite time period of music - this song is phenomenal.😊
FYI this came during the 90s .
This song is from the 90s is sounds nothing like Duran Duran Warren cucurullo made this rock songs he was in another level
@@EcRockWarren was a different ‘flavour’ added. I always enjoyed Warren era Duran, it’s just different from Andy era Duran. I love that they evolve so much
This is a 1990's song. But I understand you, Duran Duran is much associated with the 80's.
When I was growing up Duran Duran were shunned by a lot of boys and men. They were just considered a screaming girl boy band. But as I grew older I started to appreciate just how good a lot of their music was. Skin Trade was an amazing song, so was the Chauffer, the Reflex, and Planet Earth, their first single was and is incredible. Maybe their so underatted now because they cant playdown the Playboy image they had, but definitely worthy of a reassessment.
Dont forget rio
The chauffeur is the song that made me an unapologetic fan... Not sure I quite remember why. There was probably a girl in the mix there...
Agreed. "Pretty Boys" was an understated description of them, but I'll be damned if they don't have some serious talent, especially John Taylor.
As a screaming young girl who saw them live way back in 1983, I copped a lot of flack for my musical faves, and yet it was the music that was the attractant. If anything the overabundance of rouge, hair gel and pouty pictures was off-putting as it put fans in a certain classification I didn't identify with. The basslines were amazing - John Taylor is SO funky. The Chauffer is my fave!
yea i was a teen in the 80's and never took them seriously althought they were a good pop band. Like them a lot more now especially JT work on it.
Save A Prayer. These guys were thought of as a "boy group" almost in the early days but they were much more than that. Some of us caught flack for listening to them but I go where the music is. Great musicians, great writers, great band.
Save a prayer is my favourite Duran Duran song.
Back in 190/81 when they came out, they were in their Early 20s, so; They were a Boy Band back then..
Mine too
@@mujahidhamid6585 they were NEVER a boy band!! The term Boy Band hadn’t even been coined until the late 80s when New Kids On The Block came out. Boy Band insinuating they just sing and do synched choreography and don’t play their instruments or write their own songs. Completely wrong in terms of Duran Duran. They were “boys”, as in young men but that’s as far as that description goes.
@@JC-yz1sf True, they were part of the New Wave that emerged and were known as part of the New Romantic scene that had emerged during the early 1980s. But having said that they were a band full of young men .....the best of the 1980s alongwith Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, Wham, Soft Cell, Imagination, Simple Minds, Fun Boy 3, ABC, OMD, Tears For Fears, Ultravox, A Flock Of Seagulls, Visage, Classix Nouveaux.....
This tune is a masterpiece, an ocean of melancholy. Gotta believe that Warren Cucurullo had a big hand in the writing and production as it was a quantum leap up from their prior work, as good as much of that was. I also believe it was recorded in his home studio. This is one is for the ages…
Yes it was recorded at Warren’s house in his studio
“ocean of melancholy” - perfect way to put it
Yeah, Warren came from the school of Frank Zappa ! Hé knew what he was doing.
No album Duran made during the Warren years was any kind of leap over the band’s first 4 albums with Andy Taylor (Duran, Rio, 7&TRT, Notorious).
I’d also put the band’s most current 3 albums above those in the Warren era (AYNIN, Paper Gods, Future Past)
@@marcadiadd5681 "leap" is indeed a strong word if we are comparing albums. The Wedding Album is good, but Rio - the album - is perfection.
Warren is a musical genius, his virtuoso is unmatched by anyone else in the Duran camp, even John, who is damn spectacular. Warren's ability mixed with Simon's iconic voice is the reason they stayed afloat. They knew what they were getting in 1986 when they brought him on board.
That is not to take away from anyone else. Andy has pure guitar hero mojo and plays with excellent feel and emotion. John has cross-genre bass feel and method that is undeniable. Nick has the producer's ear that keeps DD's QC to the highest standard and a tastefulness that keeps the synth both in the forefront and complementary to the other perfomers. But Warren was a virtuoso, and that shines hard in his songwriting and in the band's arrangements. He played Andy's parts, he played his own parts, he's weird as hell, and he added a lot to the band.
They’ve written many many amazing songs - Save A Prayer, Rio, The Chauffeur, Seventh Stranger, Come Undone to name just a few - but yes Ordinary World is very special
Yes! The Chauffeur is so weird and mechanical. It's truly unique and barely makes any lists.
Loved the Chauffeur since the first time I heard it. Other-worldly.
Alan Parsons has said he thinks this is one of the best produced recordings he's ever heard! High praise indeed, coming from an artist of his stature.
I love Alan Parsons!
One of my favorite songs of which he produced is *Holdin' On To Yesterday* by *AMBROSIA.*
@@mbgrafixactually Games People Play is one of Allen Parsons best
@@DS77831
Indeed, the entire album, THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD was amazing! But my favorite APP album has always been I•ROBOT.
Most of the Songs on this Record were produced by the late David Richards. (Then He went on to produce The Miracle and Innuendo...)
@@mbgrafix known this since the album came out in ‘75. Right on!
This is the most beautiful song in my Playlists, the pre-chorus and the chorus make the hair stand up on my neck:) This song embodies why music is the most important thing in my life - it is audible beauty
1993... I always thought of it as Duran Duran's new music.. I had never owned any of their albums and had somewhat written them off as just another New Wave group, then I heard this song and was moved powerfully by the emotional lyricism and chord structure as it was meaningful on a personal level. I had my day in the sun and around that time I was experiencing the sundown of my youth so it really hit home and still does.. Rick, when I saw the heading "How Duran Duran Wrote the Perfect Song", I felt it had to be this one.. Our musical tastes are very much aligned... BTW... whenever your video's start, I always wait for your big grin as I sense your joy and passion for your work.. it's become predictable..
some sophisticated stuff on their early LPs as well.
Does anyone know if Rick has done Spandau Ballet's Through the Barricades ? If he hasn't, he should...
It’s so great to see so many people in the comments that feel exactly the way I do about this song and COME UNDONE. They are legends and have been consistently good for so long. I’ve been listening to thier greatest hits since the wedding album came out. Decades (pun intended) of great music.
I like the way Rick describes the nuances of a song like it's a fine wine. He's a sort of music sommelier.
Haha, that's a fitting comparison 😅! Love to go to his music tastings!
Spot on description! 👏
Ordinary World and Come Undone were 2 songs that helped me rediscover Duran Duran back in 1993. I haven't had to "rediscover" them ever since.
This song turns 30 this year and it still gives me goosebumps. It ends up on nearly all of my playlists eventually. Mind you, my kids laugh that ALL of my playlists start off as my attempt to curate new music and ends up being another collection of my favourites, on all of which this song will forever live. Something about Simon’s voice …. It’s always just a hairsbreadth away from completely falling apart and it rides perfectly above their elegant melodies. Their songs sung by anyone else loses that tension that makes them compelling and his voice without those melodies loses it’s emotional power. Just a match made in heaven. They were so much more than just another pop boy band. They pioneered the new age of MTV with their groundbreaking videos. Their look defined an era. Their sound is instantly recognizable. And this song is like the pinnacle of all that they are as musicians. It sat upright and centre stage amongst the cacophony of competing sounds that was the 90’s. And of course, it brought with it a huge wave of nostalgia for those of us who were passionately into the 80’s music scene. Fantastic. ❤
Please tell me you are a writer
NorthwoodFalls 💯%
@@TheRhNegative oh, lol. No, not a writer. I do like all the words, though 😃🤓
See them live if you can while you can. Simon’s voice is still pure and unchanged.
Even stronger in many ways especially as now he isn’t running around stage like a madman (I always loved that though bless him)
Absolutely his voice has not changed at all
From my point of view I've seen them live twice and have come to the conclusion they are a fantastic studio band
Jumped on the DD bandwagon when they first came onto the scene... LOVE their music.
But his song does something to me, and tears well up in my eyes...
I'll be 66 years old next month... and this song does it to me every time!!
I think it's one the best songs ever written, along with "Come Undone"(also by DD).
I love how excited you get when you discuss the breakdown (of any song).
I'm slightly older than you are, and I wish I had taken music (especially guitar) more seriously when I was younger.
My father passed away 4 years ago, and he left me his Gibson J45 he bought in 1944... he was 17.
Anyway.... I LOVE THIS SONG.
Thank you for doing the analysis, and hopefully lots of younger people on your channel will listen to some "older" music, and really dig it.
I appreciate what you do and your love for it.
Duran Duran has been my favorite band since 1982. I’ve seen the original line up twice. Simon, still sounds as unique and as good as he did on 1982. Jair a great f’ing band.
First album was in 1981
@@ThorD4602 yes ,but I didn’t find them in Yakima Wa until 1982.
This song has always hit me emotionally. I believe it’s about trying to cope after a loss in a world where suffering rules the headlines. The lyrics are hauntingly sad, the instrumentation is gorgeous and the vocal is heartbreaking. Definitely DD’s best, IMO.
Well the lyrics are melancholy and uplifting at the same time, and I'll never forget it since it saved me when I got roped into doing a karaoke turn at a party...
It's about Simon losing a friend. It's intensely personal.
Like many great songs, this song has multiple inspirations. One of the things it is about was the band dealing with the fact that they no longer enjoyed the popularity they had in the 80s.
I agree Rick a well written song Duran Duran is one of those timeless bands 💯🎼🥁🎸🎹🎤🥁😍✌️
John Taylor is such a musical bass player and has a lot of groove. You can really hear the Bernard Edwards / Chic influence on his playing, especially on Rio and the early material.
He is a fantastic bassist. I liked the neurotic outsiders pretty good.
As soon as I read your comment, Rio ran thru my head!! Besides the lack of bridges, key changes, middle 8s and anything larger than a 4 chord loop….what’s really missing from a lot of pop music now is a commanding baseline. Such a missed opportunity for a hook….
John Taylor is right there with John Wetton, Chris Squire, Stanley Clarke etc. He's always been one of my favorites. The Bass in The Reflex...❤
@@mallorywest1535 I love how 2 pr so years ago at the height of the pandemic John put out videos on how to play some of Duran's songs on bass. It was awesome.
To me JT has the same melodic bass lines as Sir Paul. You want to sing them.
Honestly, I don’t need the breakdown to know this is a perfect song. My ears, brain, and heart told me. Duran wrote all of their music. Duran wrote the soundtrack of my adolescence, and continues to narrate my life…
I could not survive without you or Professor of Rock. Music is the one thing that can bring us all together. I’m considered old now, but I still feel like I’m 17. It’s music, of every genre that has kept my soul & heart young. This coming from a girl who graduated HS in 1981 and from that moment on I was addicted to concerts & buying more albums. I’ve seen everyone from John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Metallica, Garth Brooks, Journey, Wayne Newton, Cher, The Tubes, Bon Jovi, Lenny Kravitz, Alabama, Billy Falcon, Fly Leaf, Doobie Brothers, Ronny Montrose, ZZ Top, Tesla, Rick Derenger, Pat Benatar, Richie Sambora, Ted Nugent, Rolling Stones, Duran Duran to the San Francisco Symphony. And soooo many more. I lost a lot of my hearing because I always had to be up front at Day on the Greens & really every concert. We could afford to see so many at $25 a ticket. Now concerts are out of control. I won’t pay their price. Stevie Nicks lowest price in April here in Texas is $685. Sorry. No one is worth that. Not even my girl Stevie. 💕Gospel is probably my favorite genre, Etta James, Bill Withers to Neal Sedaka…perfection. My playlist is bizarre to the average person. I recently got to see Tom Jones. WOW! At 82 he still has the power to sing brilliantly!! We’re all getting older but I think channels like yours & POR are so important. The newer generations look at their phone screens all day & either don’t listen to anything or they only focus on rap. They don’t understand the beauty generated by those who create the music. I’m taking my 20 year old nephew to Muscle Shoals soon. I’ve finally gotten him to look outside of rap 😊 I’m so glad he & his generation have you to show them the way. Ordinary World is just one of those songs that kick you in the gut. It’s gorgeous!! It’s incredible live! Thank you for all that you do. ❤
Why hasn't your comment gotten any love? You're obviously such a lover of music. Greetings from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Tom Jones can kick any young punk's a$$, even today. It's a shame he had so many bad songs to sing but he's put out some interesting things in the last 10 years.
All those bands. Wow. I saw Adam Ant during his Friend or Foe tour. That was fun. Saw Gary Numan, shook his hand, sat right in front of him during his sound check. Would love to see Devo. Wish I could have seen Peter Gabriel when his 4th album, Security, came out.
I've seen the Stray Cats and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Lots of others, too, but not like you.
Most of the bands I've traveled for. My part of the continent is considered out of the way for regular touring. So many bands I'll never see.
I graduated in 1981 also.
Hope your weather isn't as bad as it was last year. For us, we're not getting anywhere near as much snow as we usually do. The world's all turned around. Would love to visit Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Utah and California one day. Such a lovely part of this continent.
Cheers.
Love Duran Duran. And they're still going strong! "Danse Macabre" is a true delight.
Warren is the unsung hero of Duran Duran…his complete love of the band and desire to take them past the top to secure the group’s relevance…f yeah!! wow, I love rock and roll. Thank you, bless WC and long live rock and roll
I was a grumpy elder frowning on their cuteness in DD's early years. The Reflex and its 3-part structure first made me think 'Hm, some talent is hiding behind the mascara' and the harmonies got me the rest of the way. (Most Yes fans are likely suckers for a good harmony!) I bought Big Thing and this album, and enjoyed them thoroughly - and went to the Astronaut concert a few years later.
If they do not watch....fools
This is THE song of my life. It takes me to a very amazing and very spiritual place.
Some of the most beautiful songwriting ever is in this song and come undone. Amazing band.
Simon's vocals are sublime and his story behind the song makes it very special. After the craziness of their initial rapid growth, he and them were left empty and this song is how he came to reappreciate everything normal and from there was able to keep on walking through life.
@bernardpullon4632 actually this song sounded like that could have been the inspiration. However it was a very personal story. Simon LeBon lost his best friend to a heroin overdose in the mid 80s and this is one in a trilogy of songs dedicated to his friend. It has taken on many meanings since then, but that was the true inspiration. ✌️
@J C just going by how I heard him describe it but you make sense.
Towards the end of Ordinary World, Simon sings a few really high notes. I was blown away when I first heard it. After spending much of the 80s partying, the band still had it, especially Simon who sounds incredible.
Yes, Simon is always writing the lyrics and he's always looking for great melodies, special notes an harmonies. That 9th that Rick explains for example.
@Joe Garcia he was taught to sing by a church choir master and is always respectful to what he was taught by him. He's a very nice chap basically. His vocals with Arcadia were in the same vein where he had more scope to do less poppy songs.
Great song! As a kid, I loved Ordinary World when it came out. This actually ties into your video from last week about people giving up on artists' newer music. This song came out a few years beyond the band's heyday, but it's amazingly beautiful, and deservedly became a hit.
Duran Duran have so many perfect songs. They were pegged as a pretty boy pop band, but they were (are) amazing musicians and the lyrics were often bizarre and unconventional for a “pop” band. Amazing choice!
@@tompoynton Happened all through modern history, another example from years before was 'The Sweet' - they performed some really cheesy songs initially, they eventually left the team and did their own thing.
@@metamon2704 the sad thing with Sweet is this side of the pond too many people think Ballroom Blitz is from The Rocky Horror Show (hey, all Brits in scary outfits 🤔). No-one here has heard of Blockbuster or Teenage Rampage which were both better songs IMO. The plus side is no-one here has heard of Wigwam Bam! 🤪
@@unclemick-synths My favorite song from Sweet is Love is Like Oxygen, a great mix of pop-prog-rock elements. Unfortunately, only a few fans agree with me 😀
@@hhpoa I had to look that one up. I remember it now. Times had changed and by then I was into The Police, Blondie, etc. Great time for music in the UK - one moment the radio was playing Carpenters and the next The Sex Pistols. John Peel was God. Radio here in Ottawa is genred focus-grouped crap.
This was interesting to watch. I read an interview with Nick Rhodes, way back in the Eighties, in which he described how they wrote “Hungry Like the Wolf” in a few hours. He said he was noodling around with synthesizer melodies, then John Taylor wandered in and started playing a bass line that transformed the sound. When you listen carefully to the finished song, you can hear the bubbly synthesizer sounds interacting with the bass and imagine that moment!
Rhodes continued describing how each band member’s instrument came in and changed what they had so far, and each contributed to the finished product, with LeBon contributing lyrics as the final puzzle piece in this instance. It was really fascinating. Even at age 15-ish I knew they were no boy band! 😊
Love the RIO album in particular. John Taylor a fantastic groove bass player. Has a big influence on me, I love the 70s disco and earlier motown stuff which helped me with my progress as a player, though I play mainly rock and heavy metal. Bernard Edwards of CHIC, absolutely fantastic.
Right? John is a VERY underrated bass player.
@@ChaosHornet Great player. Definitely under-recognised all in all
Don't forget Mick Karn from Japan. ;)
He seriously got so little respect because he was such a heartthrob, he couldn't help it he was so damn handsome! Absolutely a great bass player.
*Duran Duran has many perfect songs, well-integrated lyrics and music, they know how to start them, how to finish them and when to finish them, they accentuate with the perfect notes, for me they are like movies in the form of music, they know how to handle emotions very well in their notes and letters.😎👌*
Warren Cuccurullo, the guitarist who used to be in Missing Persons and Zappa's band, wrote the song while he was a member of DD. That's why it has such an advanced melodic structure for a DD song. It was a return to form for the band, the first hit they had since their 80s heyday.
I still think Andy Taylor’s live version of this is killer.
Cuccurullo was also a hard-core jazz fan and it's worth checking out his nuclear fusion bomb instrumental version! (on youtube)
Cuccurullo’s song, kept waiting and waiting for him to be mentioned. 🤷🏻♂️
Warren is amazing,his work in Missing Persons is incredible and so different than anything at the time.
Warren is the best
I always turned the volume up whenever i heard this song in my work station. I don't care who else out there listening. ❤❤❤☺️😌
It's such a shame that back in the 80's when they were releasing all of this great music, people just didn't give them a chance. More proof that actually listening to the artist instead of critics and negative people, is what it's all about. Find the truth in music and don't be so quick to dismiss something as timeless and perfect as Ordinary World. Massive praise Rick for bringing this song and DD to the program. They will forever be one of the greatest bands of all time.
So surprised and pleased to see Duran Duran featured here! One of my top 5 all time favorite artists. They were always dismissed as pretty boys and never got the respect they deserved until recently. So many good songs from them over the last 40 years.
Warren Cuccurullo deserves some recognition, those Ordinary World solos, riffs and other details are magic! This guy had something special on guitar…
only the mind of warren comes up with chord changes this deep.
@@ajaxrayovac It's what you come to expect from any former Frank Zappa band member.
Great musician!
I do not know anything technical about music theory nor I pretend to have expert musical ear. But everything you said makes sense to me because I really feel this song and I feel it like magic. The vibe, the sounds, the harminies, I feel this song has layers upon layers of extremely good touches and details to take our ears on a journey.
Gorgeous song... Musically and lyrically. Warren Cuccurullo (guitarist and one of the song writers) is ex-Zappa. I would imagine he knew what he was doing!
This song give me chills every time I hear it. So beautiful.
Love that your covering Duran Duran. One of my all time favorite bands. They were the first band I ever got into back in the early 80s. Basically, I've been a fan from their beginning.
Ordinary World, Extraordinary Song broken down by a legend. Awesome. ❤
I grew up as a metal head and Duran Duran was always one of my secret guilty pleasures.
I think a lot of goths started off as Duranies.
They are still making cracking music. They employed Graeme Coxson, Blur's guitarist on their last release and his input was fantastic on production, writing and of course manufacturing guitar textures. The song More Joy from their latest release is so contemporary. Nick Rhodes has always been an absolute legend and I am sure his hand is all over this song.
I could talk for hours about FP, such a crowning achievement. More Joy is SO good, Wing, Nothing Less, it’s packed with great, fresh music. Falling, Give It All Up, unbelievable!
Ordinary World is the best song ever. Beautiful lyrics, fantastic structure. Chord progressions are wonderful and the tone and style of the song is absolutely amazing 😍
I have loved Duran Duran since first listen! They are so unique in their sound and have written many of my favorite songs. I saw them in concert 1984. Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour. Fantastic! My best friend was also a huge fan but sadly she died in 2003. This song reminds me of her.
Prayers for Andy!
❤ for Andy!
For Andy🙏❤